you, and I think you've got the kind of
level head we'll need before we've seen this business through."

"Thank you," I replied. I was nearly going to say 'Soft words butter no
parsnips,' but my common-sense came to my aid just in time to prevent me
making a fool of myself. He held out his hand, and I took it in the
spirit in which he had offered it to me. Nevertheless I was absurdly
jealous of the man, though Heaven knows I hadn't the least reason to be.
I could see with half an eye that he had made a good impression on
Moira, and the way she had spoken to him, especially that last remark of
hers, showed me that she was egging him on. It didn't matter one single
solitary damn to me. I had told her clearly and definitely that we were
business partners and that love was altogether out of the question. Yet
here was I, the moment a potential rival appeared on the scene, behaving
for all the world like a spoilt child. And, like a spoilt child, for my
own good I needed someone to bring me sharply and suddenly to my
bearings.

Cumshaw bade me a cheerful good-night. I saw his lithe figure swing
along through the sub-tropical darkness of a moonless summer night. Then
the latch on the gate clicked with the ringing sound of metal striking
against metal. I closed the door and went inside.

Moira was standing in the study just as I had left her, standing as
motionless and devoid of life as a statue of carven stone. I don't think
she heard me at first.

"Well," I said conversationally, "how is it now?"

She turned at the sound of my voice and faced me squarely. I could see
that her eyes were bright with unshed tears, and something inside of me
moved me with a sudden impulse to go up to her. I placed my hands on her
shoulders and was amazed to find how unsteady they were. They trembled,
my hands trembled! And yet they used to tell me in the old Island days
that I hadn't a nerve in my body.

I was quite prepared for anything except what really happened. I could
feel a sort of tension in the atmosphere, and I expected her to do
something theatrical. But she didn't. She backed away from me, but she
didn't go far. The table was behind her.

I don't know how long we stood looking at each other. It seemed a
lifetime to me, and the silence was the sort that a man feels it
sacrilege to break.

"You make it very hard for me, Jim," Moira said calmly. The tears were
still in her eyes, but her voice was under excellent control. It didn